Batman: Deadlock District
by Dom's Dynamic Duo
Summary: Months after the death of Jason Todd, Batman is faced with a broken family and a crime world that is at war. Having seven years of crime fighting experience, is Bruce Wayne prepared for the things that are to come? It all starts with the murder of Franco Bertinelli. Part of phase 1 of the D3DCU.


**A/N: Hey everyone this is Dom and Manny, aka Dom's Dynamic Duo. This is the Batman story in our new shared universe called the D3DCU. This Batman story (Written by Dom) connects to the Superman story (Written by Manny) that is posted under this very account. These stories will link and lead to a Justice League fic co-written by us two.**

 **A major warning though is this: we have created our own universe from scratch, that is to say, the origins of some characters** _ **will**_ **change quite dramatically, but mostly we hope to keep the soul and spirit of these characters that we know and love the same. The characterizations of these characters are heavily based on the Animated Universe, but have influences from the comics and the DCEU. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters represented here unless said otherwise, they belong to DC.**

Gotham was cold as hell. A fitting simile. Gordon stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat fiercely in a token effort to warm them. He waited. The light he stood next to was blinding, so he avoided looking into it, choosing to look up at the image it projected in the stormy skies of Gotham. A bat.

He lit a cigar as he waited, kicking a pebble on the ground lightly.

"That's a bad habit to keep, Lieutenant."

Gordon already knew who it was, the deep and menacing timber of the voice was unmistakable so he elected not to turn around and kept playing with the pebble.

"You say that every time you see me, you know. I don't think jumping around rooftops in the middle of the night is an awfully good habit either so you're not one to talk." Jim mentioned, "But we have more important things to discuss right now than our vices."

Gordon took Batman's silence as a green light to proceed.

"There was another murder two nights ago." He bristled as he said this, uncomfortable with the conversation that was about to ensue. He felt like a child explaining to his parents why he had drawn on the wall with a marker.

"Two nights ago? And I've only become aware of this now?" Batman said, his voice smooth and cold as ever. Despite the fact that he was undoubtedly angry, he never seemed to raise his voice and that scared Jim more than the costume ever would.

"You know why, Batman." The Lieutenant said abrasively.

"Enlighten me."

"You've been getting too violent. You stopped locking people up and started putting them in hospitals. Ever since the Joker-". Gordon started.

"Enough." Batman cut him off harshly. "Get to the point."

He sighed and puffed from his cigar once more, "Loeb wouldn't let me contact you. This one was a personal case, I think. Struck a chord with him… He's been keeping it under wraps. Same as the case from two weeks ago." Jim kicked the light and shut if off, engulfing them in darkness as spots made their way into his vision. "Maybe if that bastard let me shine this blasted light into the sky that night, things could have been different."

The Dark Knight watched silently as the Lieutenant put out his cigar with his boot and breathed deeply, regaining his composure. "The cases are related. And there's something strange about it too. The man that was murdered? Stefano Mandragora."

Batman grit his teeth, "The same Mandragora who murdered the Bertinelli's?"

Gordon nodded, "But here's the kick. The fingerprints on the gun? They belonged to Carmine Falcone."

The white lenses on the cowl widened slightly, the only indication of surprise that Batman had shown. "That's not his usual MO. He always lets his men do the dirty work, what's different now?"

"Bertinelli was Falcone's boss, but rumor has it Falcone thought of Bertinelli like a father. Close as hell those two."

"So I've heard." Batman said.

Gordon watched the Caped Crusader closely.

Finally, Bruce was forced to ask "What is it?"

Jim furrowed his eyebrows closely. "I've known you for seven years now Batman, almost since you first started punching bad guys for a hobby, and every time that we have our little rooftop conversations you disappear when I turn around, I'm going to have to learn your trick someday."

He almost regretted his words when an uncharacteristic smirk graced the vigilante's face. "You'll learn my trick the day you stop smoking."

That smirk was the last thing Gordon saw before being temporarily blinded by the brightness of the spotlight that had been turned on by a batarang that hit the lever.

When the Lieutenant recovered his vision, he was accompanied by nothing but darkness. Grumbling, he turned off the light and lit another cigarette.

 **{~^-^~}{~^-^~}{~^-^~}(TWO DAYS LATER){~^-^~}{~^-^~}{~^-^~}**

From his position on a gargoyle over a byway between two project houses, Bruce observed some low life punk corner a terrified woman into an alley. The man didn't look particularly familiar with the area. A newcomer to Gotham. The lenses of the cowl narrowed, a reflection of Bruce's facial expression as the criminal pulled out a gun.

Bruce dropped from his perch and spread out his cape, allowing it to slow his fall. He landed with an inaudible thud, allowing the man to see the movement in his peripherals, but moving into a shadow quick enough that he wouldn't fully acknowledge what he saw.

Drawing himself up slowly, Bruce didn't remove his gaze from the man's nervous form. It seemed that he was approximately 5'9", with brown eyes and stringy blond hair. The seaweed on his boots made it obvious that he worked at the docks. A drug dealer. This was the man that he was looking for. The Wayne Heir allowed himself a small, cruel smirk as he approached him, cracking the knuckles on his fist.

The drug dealer looked around in fear as he heard the sound, his hair swinging around wildly as it sloppily followed the movements of his head. Batman watched as the man's eyes moved around rapidly with panic, trying to reassess the environment for any perceivable threats as sweat rolled down his forehead and his hands shook violently on the illegally obtained gun (as denoted by the forger's branding on the barrel). These things led Bruce to the conclusion that the man was a trigger-happy kind of criminal, a rookie. Easy enough to deal with by himself, but dangerous when in possession of a hostage.

"Who's there?!" He called out into the night, voice trembling almost as much as his hands. "I'll kill her! I swear!"

Batman approached carefully, keeping to the shadows until he had enough leeway to get the poor woman out of there quickly. In the meantime, the man kept his gun pointed at the woman's head, but would occasionally point it out in front of him. When the man received no response his breath evened out slightly and his heartbeat slowed, "I guess there isn't anyone here to save you tonight, is there you bitch?" He said with a sneer and new found confidence as he faced the crying woman.

That was when Bruce chose to act, dropping a smoke pellet as he threw himself at the girl. He heard a gunshot go off behind him as the frightened thug began to fire into the smoke. He looked down and saw her staring at him with fear and awe from under him. "You're...you're-"

"Here to save you." Bruce said gruffly as he grabbed her by the waist and grappled onto a rooftop. He didn't place her down as gently as he had hoped but it would have to do. Gliding back down to ground level, the vigilante stirred the screen of smoke with his cape as he landed once more, the man in his direct line of sight, afraid, disoriented and alone.

The criminal turned around too late, and Bruce's hand was at his throat, his back against a brick wall. Bruce figured that if he applied enough pressure in the right places, he would get his answers quick enough. But he didn't want quick answers, he wanted good ones. With his hand squeezing tightly at the man's throat, he lifted him up from his feet and pulled him back only to smash him into the brick wall again.

"Who _are_ you?!" He asked, eyes wide. Bruce almost chuckled, but refrained, opting instead to tighten his grip even more.

"I'm _Batman_." Bruce growled, "And your friends should have warned you about me."

Throwing him to the ground, Batman stood over him menacingly.

"Kristov Leguini, I'm sure that you know why I'm here. Which is why I'm only going to ask you this once nicely, and if you don't give me an answer I like then I will break _every_ bone in your body- and I have a _lot_ to work with…So tell me, _where's Falcone?_ "

 **A/N: Okay, this is Dom here Manny's editor and cowriter. Sorry for the very long author's note at the top, but it needed to be said. Hopefully you'll enjoy this half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review and tell me what you think/what you want to see! It'll help a lot.**

 **Sidenote: if any of you happen to like the TV show "Merlin" I happen to have a story posted there on my personal account:** _Dominus of the Dragon._


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